Amare Flos (Demon Slayer)

The next 5 days were absolute turmoil for Eira. Although she dealt with no demons, she faced an even bigger challenge, Ali. The days consisted of non-stop talking and interacting. She found herself constantly facepalming and rolling her eyes, which she had never done before. Something about Ali's nonstop comments, statements, and overall speech just annoyed her. No matter how many times she shouted at him, he would just laugh and continue talking. She never found an opportunity to escape from the painful chokehold of his speech he had her on. Walking out the gates that they had entered through was like a big wave of relief, finally, she would be free from the endless chatter she faced. Of course, she was grateful for the fact that she had gotten out of the Final Selection alive and well, but it felt as if she sacrificed her mental health for her physical health. There were several moments where Ali's stories were actually funny or entertaining but Eira could not get a single moment of peace and quiet around him.

"In that entire forest, the biggest demon was definitely Ali and his stupid stories..." She sighed as she sat on a rock. Ali had wandered off, most likely to talk to Asumi. Eira hadn't bothered looking for her alongside Ali, she just wanted to sit there in the quiet for a while. Ali was the least of her concerns, as Eira redirected her eyes forwards Eira gulped, two young children stood staring at the survivors, they stood over a table full of rocks, they were the same kids that had gave them instructions at the start of FInal Selection. The kids were from the Ubuyashiki family. The family that ran and led the Demon Slayer Corps. The two kids were like carbon copies, the only difference between them was the colour of their hair.

They just seemed creepy to Eira, their sheer stillness as if they were statues. Eira could feel her heart thump as she eagerly waited for them to say something, anything ton just prove they weren't statues. The two children started to talk in sync, they first congratulated the survivors, then began to explain the process of how a demon slayer's sword was formed. Everyone would have to pick a Nichirin ore from the table, and that same ore would be turned into a sword and be delievered to their house. Once they had gotten their sword, they would also be given their first mission.

Eira was so distracted by the process that she hadn't realised it. Looking around her she was shocked. Her heart sank. The only survivors were her, Ali, Asumi and a few others. Where had everyone else gone? Did they all really... Barely anyone in Eira's list of who would survive was here. It was a melancholic feeling, knowing that everyone Eira had seen at the start of Final Selection were now mere corpses somewhere on the mountain. Eira was broken out of her train of thought by Ali's turn on picking an ore.

"Jeez... what a hard choice. Even though they all look the same..." Ali laughed, without a second thought he just placed his hand on a rock. Unexpectedly, a figure dropped down. It was none other than Ali's mentor, the Wind Hashira, Sanemi. He gave Ali an angry look. Ali smiled back, throwing the rock up and catching it again. The Wind Hashira pulled Ali aside and seemingly started to talk to him. Eira found herself laugh a bit when the two kids had to remind Ali that he couldn't keep the Nichirin ore, Ali handed the grey rock back to them. It was Eira's turn. She went up and looked at the selection of rocks. She found it hard to pick one without any prior knowledge. Inanimate objects didn't have feelings or an aura, so she didn't know which would be ideal. She scanned each of the rocks as if one would stand out, the dull grey rocks just stared back at her. Eira sighed and left it up to fate, she pointed to a random ore. The two kids nodded.

Eira took a deep breath and turned around, she saw that everyone had already left. The Wisteria plants scent filled her nose as she walked forwards. Final Selection had finished. Now the wait had begun for her own sword. She would leave for the mountain. Ready to see her older brother again. She missed the coldness of the mountains, the warmth was nice, but it didn't feel the same as her home. Eira smiled and took an exit towards her mountain, it was confusing, there was only one entry but several exits. Eira assumed Ali and Asumi both took different exits as she didn't see them. She reminisced a bit, she couldn't believe it but she missed Ali's constant talking already. She felt a desire to meet the two of them again one day, her first friends.

Ali took a deep breath and rested his wooden sword on his shoulder. Ali had just been lectured by his mentor for losing his sword strap. After lecturing him, he congratulated him and left.

"He ignored all his business and missions, and went out of his way to come to see if I lived. Just to lecture me on losing a sword strap." Ali laughed and thought. He stretched a bit and rotated his body and looked back at the Wisteria Forest, smiling a bit. He looked at it with the hope to remember it forever. No matter what happened to him he wished to keep the core memories he had made here. Ali let out a scream that made birds fly out of their nests, his stretch was so good it felt like his soul had exited his body, washed itself and went back. Ali sighed. As he continued walking, he started thinking of Asumi. He dug his hands into his deep pockets and grabbed at a sleek wooden box, it shone with polish, an elaborate design imprinted in golden font. It was an expensive box that Ali kept his flower in. He slowly opened the box, the red velvet cushioned of the box surrounded the resting flower, the light blue as bright as ever. A small glow flashed. Ali closed the box and slipped it back into his pocket.

"We didn't meet properly huh? Well, it's alright, I'll wait another two years if I have to, just to see that sweet smile" Ali sighed. He wondered how all the others felt, happy? satisfied? Ali wanted to ask his mentor how he felt once he completed Final Selection, but Sanemi had left a long time ago. Ali couldn't believe it had been 4 years, he remembered when he first met Sanemi at twelve years old, he had thought the years would take forever to go by. They had flew by as if they were nothing. Ali slowly started to increase his pace, his 'home' was in an isolated village that Sanemi had placed him in. He thought it would Ali to completely focus on training with no distractions. Sanemi would come visit Ali from time to time, just as expectedly as today. Ali still couldn't believe Sanemi had shown up, Hashira were extremely busy, well everyone did say he had a soft spot for Ali. Ali's head lit up with all the fantasies of him being awarded the title of 'Wind Hashira' and everyone celebrating. Ali laughed a bit and gripped her sword tightly. Ali slowly leaned forward and started to sprint forward with a smile on his face. He couldn't wait for his new sword, finally this wooden sword could rest.

On the other side of the forest, Asumi was having a different experience. She looked back at the mountain with resentment, for the majority of Final Selection, she had stayed awake. Eye bags under her eyes, her legs shook from just how fatigued she felt. She had only had a few demon encounters after the Hand Demon, she handled them ith ease but her fatigue throbbed at her head in the form of a headache. Asumi looked up at the blue and hopeful sky, she hoped that her mentor was watching over her from heaven. Her beloved mentor had passed away only a year ago, leaving Asumi to teach herself a lot of the Flower Breathing's styles and forms. The harsh training finally paid off in Final Selection. Asumi took a deep breath, she couldn't wait to see the bright faces of her family. Asumi sighed and touched the flower in her hair, her eyes slowly closed the sunlight blanketed her face as she was reminded of Ali. She regretted acting so impulsive towards Ali, she had seemed so rude.

"We got off on the wrong foot. I hope he doesn't think I'm mad at him or something." She took a deep breath and memories of Ali filled her head. She in no way hated Ali, she just worried so much, the strong of worry would overtake her at some points. She couldn't possibly see him get hurt, her heart strings were tugged at every time he was knocked down or injured. She had a desperate urge to protect him as much as she could, it was another reason she had trained so hard, to protect him, someone had to if he wasn't going to. Even after all the commotion she faced in these 7 days, she forgot what it was like to be in the presence of Ali, it was so warm and vibrant, just like her flower field. She smiled at the thought of him.

He was still the same annoying boy who would bother her constantly. It was just that they were both almost adults now. Now the wait has started. They wait for their first mission. The three would indulge in their last moments of peace. Before their lives would turn upside down.